The Sunday Gospel Children are counting down the days. Only 10 more days till Christmas. I am really taken by the television commercial where the little boy keeps asking “Will he really come?” Of course, we think that it refers to Santa Claus. But no, it is Grandad. “I knew you would come.” It’s a story of expectation and joy,…
Godly Play seeks to help children explore their innate spirituality in a Scripture-centric way, writes Jason Osborne How many Catholic parents over the years have longed to see their children engage with the Faith with the same degree of enthusiasm as they engage with their play? While I don’t have the answer to that, it’s…
Faith in Film Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo star in the subtle rom-com Just Like Heaven. Last week, I wrote about how great art can turn our eyes to God to appreciate his beauty. But not everything has to be deep and serious to warrant our attention. Light, sincere films can be just as effective,…
Saint of the Week It wouldn’t have been proper to focus on anyone else this week other than Mary, the Mother of God. The Church celebrates on December 8 the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, which is such a momentous occasion that it’s a holy day of obligation – meaning that Catholics must attend Mass…
by Lindsey Weishar I love the hymns that accompany us through the Advent season. A term I sometimes hear used for them is ‘haunting.’ Some are played in minor keys, which fills them with a special mystery, a particular kind of longing. I think haunting is such an appropriate word as the earliest usage of the word haunt…
Questions of Faith Faith in the power of prayer has been shaken in recent years. Unanswered prayers have left many wondering if there’s anyone listening to them at all, and if not, what’s the point in maintaining the practice? If we ask for things – good things – and God doesn’t grant them, what does…
The full story of how Jesus Christ came to be born includes elements that we do not easily imagine when we sing our Christmas hymns. Jesus’ family tree and bloodline were far from perfect and this, according to the renowned biblical scholar, Raymond Brown, needs to be kept in mind whenever we are tempted to…
The Sunday Gospel “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice. Indeed, the Lord is near.” This is the entrance antiphon for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday, a day to rejoice. I am intrigued by the prominence of the letter ‘w’ in Advent…winter, wonder, wilderness, waiting and the womb of…
One Dublin parish is looking to contemplative prayer as the way forward for faith in Ireland, writes Jason Osborne Balally parish in south Co. Dublin is staking its future on the power of prayer. As the Church wanes in Ireland, parish priest Fr Jim Caffrey and chaplain Fr Dermot Lane insist that the decline in…
Faith in Film I mentioned last week that while the Vatican is an unlikely source of film criticism, it does have its own list of ‘great films’. It’s a list I encourage you to check out, easily found with a quick Google search. Their selection is broken up into three categories, religion, values and art.…
Ruadhán Jones
Fr Ronald Rolheiser